


Got Me in a Tricky Situation

by dharmaavocado



Category: Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: M/M, Pre-Relationship, nongraphic descriptions of injuries
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-04
Updated: 2020-10-04
Packaged: 2021-03-07 19:15:03
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,211
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26822758
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dharmaavocado/pseuds/dharmaavocado
Summary: Rex pushed himself up as far as he could in his position, but he could only make Obi-Wan out as a pale shape.  “What about the men?”  He let himself back down, breathing hard.  “Is it just us stuck here?”“Yes.”  Another one of those wet breaths.  “They all had the good sense to run away from the falling building.”In which Rex and Obi-Wan, according to the Kenobi Dire Scale, are fucked.
Relationships: Obi-Wan Kenobi/CT-7567 | Rex
Comments: 30
Kudos: 424





	Got Me in a Tricky Situation

**Author's Note:**

> Title taken from the Slaughter and the Dogs song _Situation_ mostly because I find it funny.
> 
> Written for day 4 of Whumptober for the prompt collapsed building.
> 
> Big thanks to jynx/bluemaskedkarma for reading snippets I sent and being encouraging and most importantly listening me to whine about how writing is hard.

He was face down in what remained of the street, left leg pinned and right arm refusing to move. That meant a dislocated shoulder if he was lucky, a broken clavicle if he wasn’t. Considering the pressing weight of the collapsed building over him, Rex wasn’t holding out for the former.

Something groaned far away.

“General?” he said.

Or tried to say. He inhaled dust so thick it felt solid. He didn’t cough so much as wretch, his ribs howling with each shudder. Broken probably, and he could only hope none of them punctured his lungs.

“Kenobi?” he tried again, and was rewarded with another coughing fit for his trouble. It was hard to breathe. Lungs might not have made it after all.

There wasn’t much light filtering through, although it was next to useless with his HUD gone; another helmet scrapped. He pawed at it weakly until he could get the damn thing off. It took a long moment for his vision to come into focus and what greeted him was far from encouraging. Warped support beams had fallen to form a bower, keeping the rest of the building from collapsing and crushing him. It wouldn’t hold. Even now he could see the durasteel bending under the weight, and it was only a matter of time until the entire thing caved in. It was a miracle it hadn’t already.

“Kenobi?” He worked some moisture into his mouth. “Obi-Wan! Answer me!”

“Really, Captain,” Obi-Wan said, “I’m right here. No need for the dramatics.”

“Where’s ‘here?’” Rex said instead of what he really wanted to, which was unbecoming for an officer and was sure to get him court-martialed if Obi-Wan was the sort.

“A bit north of you.” There were terrible pauses between each word. “Well, I’m assuming that’s you unless—” a hitched breath “ _—_ another shiny got into the peroxide again.”

“That happened once.” Rex craned his neck around. There was a pale smear in the dust that may have been Obi-Wan. “How badly are you injured?”

“Would you believe me if I said I’ve had worse?”

“Unfortunately, yes.” He carefully flexed his pinned leg. It hurt but not the extent that suggested it was broken. Small favors. “Stay there. I’m going to make my way to you.”

“ _Don’t,”_ Obi-Wan said and Rex froze on instinct. “While I appreciate—” a pause for a labored breath “—your dedication, we’re in a very precarious situation.”

Once, after an op had fucked them so hard they may as well have paid for the privilege, he and Cody had gotten spectacularly drunk, and Cody had revealed to him the Kenobi Dire Scale, which boiled down to the worse the situation the more verbose the bastard got.

“When he starts pulling out the pol—poly— _big_ words you know you’re in trouble,” Cody had said. “But you know you’re well and truly fucked when he drops that fancy shit and tells it to you plain.”

There was that groaning again; the beams were bending under the weight.

“Shit,” Rex said. “That bad?”

“Buildings falling on you are rarely the desired outcome.” Obi-Wan’s dry tone was ruined by his wet breathing. “How bad are your injuries?”

“Right arm’s useless,” he said. “My ribs are broken. Left leg’s pinned. And I think I have a concussion. Your turn.”

The only answer he received was more of that terrible breathing.

“Obi-Wan,” he said sharply. “Report.”

“I’m fairly certain I still outrank you,” Obi-Wan said, and immediately proceeded to cough. It was one of the worst things Rex had ever heard, and when it was over Obi-Wan keened softly in the way of wounded animals, as if he couldn’t help it.

“How bad is it?” Rex asked. “And don’t lie to me.”

“Bad,” Obi-Wan said quietly. “A length of piping has gone though my lower abdomen, and I’ve lost feeling in my legs.”

Rex closed his eyes. “Your breathing doesn’t sound good, either.”

“I was struck in the chest. I don’t think a lung was punctured, but it is so difficult to tell what’s going on internally.” The attempt at flippancy was undercut by how hard it was for Obi-Wan to draw breath.

“And the pain?”

“I really have had worse.”

That Rex could believe.

“Comms?” Obi-Wan asked.

He shifted his good arm close to check. “Offline. You?”

“I assume the same.”

“Assume?”

“I can’t seem to lift my arms,” Obi-Wan said. “And I think my lightsaber may be lost as well.”

“Cody will find it,” Rex said. “Seems to be his job.”

“Don’t you start that, too.”

Rex pushed himself up as far as he could in his position, but he could only make Obi-Wan out as a pale shape. “What about the men?” He let himself back down, breathing hard. “Is it just us stuck here?”

“Yes.” Another one of those wet breaths. “They all had the good sense to run away from the falling building.”

“I didn’t see you running either.”

The 212th and 501st had taken the city after a month of hard fighting in the streets; urban warfare was brutal and their training hadn’t prepared them for the hard reality of it. But they’d won, or at least killed more of the clankers than were killed by them, and Rex was looking forward to some hot food and sleep when a squad of bombers made one last run.

Most of the men had already taken cover when one bomb hit an already compromised building, sending it crumpling down on them. Rex could have made a run for it and got clear, but a bunch of shinies were directly underneath. They were too exhausted from a month of constant fighting to move fast enough, and Obi-Wan had raised his hands and _shoved_ , sending them flying. Saved their lives but not his own.

Rex hadn’t thought that at the time. There wasn’t room in his head for anything but desperation, and a frantic sprint brought him close enough to tackle Obi-Wan just as the building came down on them.

“Perhaps next time we should both consider doing so,” Obi-Wan said. “Do you know this really fucking hurts?”

“I’m not having that great of a time over here.” Bits of duracrete were digging into his cheek no matter how he turned his head. Above the rubble shifted before abruptly stilling. “Are you doing that?”

“Yes.”

“This pocket your work, too?”

“Did you think we’re lucky enough to have it happen on its own?”

“No.” His head ached like a son of a bitch, making it hard to string thoughts together. “You’re still keeping it from collapsing.” He didn’t even get an answer to that, which was telling in more ways than one. “How long can you hold it?”

“Long enough,” Obi-Wan said like the filthy liar Cody always accused him of being.

“This is killing you.”

“That would be the pipe lodged—” Obi-Wan broke off into a cough that dragged on for so long Rex was just about to rip himself free to get to him, damn Obi-Wan’s warnings to the contrary. “Don’t you dare,” Obi-Wan said. “I’m fine.”

“The hell you are,” he said. “You have to stop.”

He didn’t need to see Obi-Wan to know exactly what his expression was, the stubborn bastard.

“If I do,” Obi-Wan said slowly as if Rex was as obtuse as Skywalker, “then this will fall and crush you.”

“It’s going to do that as soon as you either pass out or die,” Rex said. “I’d rather not have you in excruciating pain before that happens.”

“Don’t be dramatic. It’s merely agonizing.”

He tested the give on his pinned leg. If he was very careful he could probably ease it free without bringing the entire building down on their heads.

“We’ll compromise,” he said.

“I’d love to hear what a compromise would be in this situation,” Obi-Wan said, but the exhaustion stripped any bite from the words. He wouldn’t last much longer.

“If I get to you that’s a smaller area for you to focus on.”

“ _No._ Any movement could disrupt the delicate balance and bring it all down on you, and I won’t be able to stop it.”

“I’ll be careful.” He dragged himself forward only to be brought up short when shifting rubble pressed down on his knee. He might be able to kick it free, but he needed better leverage to attempt it. There was nothing for it.

“Absolutely not,” Obi-Wan said. “And that’s an order, Captain.”

Rex ignored him. Bracing himself, he rolled onto his side, injured arm trapped under his body. The two ends of his broken clavicle scrapped together, and he chewed back a howl. He kicked— _careful, careful_ —once, twice, three times before he managed to dislodge the debris enough to yank his leg free.

The durasteel beam buckled and broke. Rex curled his good arm over his head and waited for impact.

It never came.

He stared up at the chucks of duracrete and steel hovering over his head. “Huh. Nice catch.”

“I wouldn’t have to catch it,” Obi-Wan said, apparently dipping into some reserves to sound that scathing, “if you followed orders.”

“You can bring me up on charges later.” This was the hard part, and Rex gritted his teeth and rolled back over. Now to he just had to move. “Hold that until I’m clear.”

“Then perhaps considering moving faster,” Obi-Wan said.

“I’m trying,” Rex snapped, and dragged himself forward, jaw clenched as the pain sang through him. Each inch of gained ground was agony, but that never stopped him before. If only he could catch his damned breath. “Am I clear?”

“Not yet.” The words were nearly lost under the ragged sound of Obi-Wan’s breathing, and so Rex forced himself to keep going.

He crawled for what seemed like hours, only pausing to cough from the dust he kicked up. He spat out mouthfuls of grit, and ignored how the inside of his mouth felt torn up to focus on the ground in front of him. Cody always said he was too stupid to know when to stop and Rex was going to prove him right.

“Rex,” Obi-Wan said. “Rex! _Captain, that’s enough.”_

Rex blinked. “Am I clear?”

“And then some.”

His good arm gave out, and Rex sucked in what air he could. “You gonna let it go?”

“Brace yourself,” Obi-Wan said.

There was a deafening groan of buckling steel and stone, and Rex closed his eyes against the dust that rose. It sent both him and Obi-Wan retching, and for a moment he was sure he was going to die, unable to grab enough air between terrible heaves that set his ribs screaming. He managed to roll onto his side, curling up as much as he could as he rode it out.

Finally he managed a full gasp of air and then another, and the coughing eased enough for him to croak, “Obi-Wan?”

“Still here,” Obi-Wan said, sounding exhausted. “Let’s not do that again.”

“I’ll take that under consideration the next time a building falls on us.”

Obi-Wan made a strange gasping noise, and Rex belatedly realized he was trying to laugh.

“Do you know,” Obi-Wan said once he got himself under control, “I once believed that you were entirely too—how should I put this?—regulation to make it as Anakin’s executive officer.”

“Don’t know where you got that idea from. I’m the only one who can keep up with Cody.”

“Well, in my defense, I also thought Cody a model officer.”

Now it was Rex’s turn to gasp out a laugh. “That fucking hurts,” he said.

“It does indeed,” Obi-Wan agreed. “Let’s keep the witticism to a minimum.”

The big words were back, which meant that for the moment they had gone from completely fucked to just mostly fucked.

“Where are you?” Rex asked. “You sound close.”

“Above you, I think. I ended up on what used to be a wall.”

Damn. All right. One more time. He pushed and rolled over, every part of his body registering its complaint. At least the red hot pain of his collar bone was lost among all his injuries. It was a strange sort of relief.

He must have made some noise, because Obi-Wan said, “Are you still with me?”

“I’m right here.” He pried his eyes open. The pale shape above him gained a smear of red, which meant he was just under where Obi-Wan lay. Good. He didn’t have it in him to move again. “Hello.”

“Hello,” Obi-Wan said. “Nice of you to join me.”

“Wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.”

It was too sincere, Rex belatedly realized, and Obi-Wan drew in a careful breath and said, “Captain, I think—”

“Is this easier on you?” Rex asked.

“What? Oh, you mean the—yes, it’s bearable. Don’t be smug.”

“You’re thinking of Skywalker,” he said. “I would never.”

“Of course not.” That was an admirable attempt at dryness, which meant that some of the strain had been lifted. That was about as good as Rex could hope for.

The building shifted and settled ominously, but exhaustion had a way of smothering the fear until only resignation remained. This wasn’t the first bad spot he’d been in since the war begun, but it may be the last. What a stupid way to die.

“Cody will be working on getting us out,” Obi-Wan said.

“Of course,” Rex agreed, even though both of them knew that didn’t mean much. It would take a miracle to not only find them in the wreck but to then get to them without causing a total collapse. It would take hours, and Rex was pretty sure Obi-Wan didn’t have that. “He’s stubborn.”

“Nearly as stubborn as you,” Obi-Wan said fondly.

Maybe it was the weight of those groaning beams above them or the exhaustion or the pipe through Obi-Wan’s stomach, or maybe it was that fucking fondness that finally did him in, but Rex said, “I know you’re aware of how I feel about you.”

It was very quiet. Rex listened to the wet rasp of Obi-Wan’s breathing.

“That’s not appropriate, Captain,” Obi-Wan said.

“Are you about to pull rank?”

“I’m not pulling anything.” Obi-Wan sounded annoyed now. “But you can’t choose to ignore reality just because you find it disagreeable.”

“Oh, fuck you,” he snapped, glaring up at where he thought Obi-Wan was. “You don’t want to have this conversation, fine, we won’t, but you don’t get to put it all on me. You owe me that much.”

Obi-Wan made a low, pained noise. “It doesn’t matter if I reciprocate any feelings you may have. This is not just about our respective ranks. Any potential relationship would leave you vulnerable to any number of factions that are looking for an excuse to decommission you and your brothers. I cannot— _will not_ put you at risk.”

Rex tipped his head back. “So this is all for my benefit and has nothing to do with you?”

“Well,” Obi-Wan said, “I suppose when you put it like that I do sound like a right asshole.”

Rex snorted. “Just a little.”

“I wish it were otherwise, but I won’t endanger you just because I—” He cut himself off, and although Rex waited Obi-Wan didn’t finish the sentiment. Obi-Wan took another breath and said, “When the bomb hit, you were outside the blast zone. Why did you—you were _safe.”_

If they were anywhere else but here, battered and bleeding and dying, Rex would have politely but firmly deflected, and he and Obi-Wan could go back to ignoring what, if any, feelings may lie between them. But they were, unfortunately, battered and bleeding and dying, and Rex was so fucking tired of wanting, so he said, “But you weren’t.”

“Goddamn you,” Obi-Wan said without any heat. “You can’t make this easy, can you?”

“Sorry.”

“I don’t think you are.”

“I am,” he said. “You know that.”

Obi-Wan gave a wet bubble of a sigh, and said, “I know.”

Obi-Wan wasn’t able raise his arm but he apparently could still move it, and he reached for Rex, hand blindly opening and closing in search. Rex dug deep and pushed himself up so he was propped against the wall Obi-Wan was pinned to. He caught Obi-Wan’s hand, and pressed a kiss to Obi-Wan’s knuckles and settled in for the long decline before them.

* * *

Time passed, although he couldn’t say how much. He listened to Obi-Wan’s labored breathing, each breath sounding more hard earned than the last. The effort of speaking had grown too great, and so they stopped.

He thought he caught the distant sound of voices, but it was just the building shifting. Obi-Wan had remained true to his word, and so far nothing else had collapsed, but it was only a matter of time.

“Let go, if you have to,” Rex said. “It’s all right. I won’t blame you.”

Obi-Wan’s hand tightened around his and their bower held strong.

* * *

Rex had given up on keeping his eyes open when Obi-Wan’s hand went lax in his grip. He drifted in and out of consciousness, breathing gone shallow but at least the pain faded to a distant and dull ache that was barely worth mentioning.

Over the hours, he’d listed to the side until his forehead was pressed to Obi-Wan’s knuckles. When they were finally excavated, he wondered if this was how they would be found, still frozen in this moment of supplication like the worst kind of romance holovid that Hardcase streamed. It was deeply embarrassing, but not enough to get him to move, not even when the rubble shifted and a light was shone on him.

“I got a visual on ‘em, boss. Tell Skywalker he can forget about the eastern section.”

“Finally.” That was Cody. “Are they moving?”

Rex really wanted to make a rude gesture, but that meant letting go of Obi-Wan, and it wasn’t worth it.

“Negative, sir. Can’t even tell if they’re conscious.”

“Let me see,” Cody said, and then Rex squeezed his eyes tightly shut as the light was placed directly on his face. “Rex, you useless whoreson of a bantha fucker, report!”

There were few things that were able to bypass any good sense he had, but Cody insulting him in a tone of voice so furious and shit scared was one of them.

“Go fuck yourself, sir,” Rex croaked.

“Oh good, you’re alive,” Cody said. “What about the other bantha fucker?”

“Don’t know.” He gripped Obi-Wan’s hand tighter. “Building hasn’t crushed us yet, so probably.”

“I want that cribbing in here now,” Cody said. “As soon as it’s stable we’re getting them out.”

There was a lot of activity and barked orders, but for once Rex wasn’t required to track any of it, and so he didn’t. It was enough just to know his brothers were there.

Time slipped away again, and he drifted with it until he was brought back by hands on his face, tilting his head back. Rex tried to jerk away only to be firmly held in place as a mask was fitted over his mouth and nose.

“Easy, sir,” Kix said. “It’s oxygen. I need you to breathe with me. In and out. That’s it. Very good.”

“Stop patronizing me,” he gasped even as he breathed to the cadence of Kix’s voice. Ribs still ached, but at least his lungs felt less like they were full of slag.

“Kix can do whatever he wants,” Cody said.

“Thank you, sir,” Kix said. “I’ll remind you that you said that later. I’m going to get the stretcher.”

As Kix moved away, Cody gently cupped the back of his skull. “Think you can open your eyes for me?”

He could, for Cody. It took a moment for Cody to swim into focus, and the only time Rex was happier to see the bastard was after the first battle of Genosis when he made it out alive when so many of his brothers hadn’t.

“I expected this from Kenobi,” Cody said, swiping his thumb in slow arcs, “but I thought I could leave you alone for five minutes without you getting a building dropped on your head.”

“Pretty sure I already told you to go fuck yourself,” Rex said, and then, as the oxygen cleared his head, “Obi-Wan has been holding all of this up, and he’s—”

“We have Skywalker on it for now,” Cody said. “Sawbones and Kix are working on getting him out of here.”

“There’s a pipe,” Rex said.

“We’ve noticed,” Cody said dryly. “Can’t remove it without risk of him bleeding out, and we can’t move him until we cut the damn thing free from where it’s still attached to the building, and we can’t do that until you let go. Don’t get me wrong,” Cody added, and Rex just knew he was grinning under his bucket, “it’s fucking adorable, but we really need to stop holding the general’s hand.”

Oh hell, Rex was still clinging to Obi-Wan like a shiny to his favorite sergeant. He was going to be mortified about this later, but for now he let go even as Obi-Wan’s fingers twitched.

“Thank you for your sacrifice,” Cody said because he was an asshole. “Get him out of here.”

Two brothers in 212th gold carefully moved him onto the stretcher with minimal jostling, which meant he was only in mild agony by the time he was strapped in. They lifted him, and Rex said, “Wait. I’m not leaving him here.” He reached for the strap across his chest.

“No one’s being left,” Cody snapped, grabbing his hands when Rex unclipped the first buckle. “But Kix is worried about your lungs and—”

There rose a terrible keening, and Rex could see Obi-Wan’s hand opening and closing. The durasteel beams shuddered, and several brothers scrambled to get more cribbing in place.

“What’s going on down there?” Skywalker barked over Cody’s comm. “It feels like someone is trying to tear it apart.”

“Get him back over there,” Cody snapped to the brothers. To Skywalker, he said, “Just hold it together.”

When he was close enough, Rex said, “I’m here. I'm still here with you.”

That was enough to calm Obi-Wan enough for Sawbones to say, “Get us the cutter. We can’t wait any longer, sir.”

“Do it,” Cody said. “Have the larty on standby. I want them in medbay within the hour.”

The cutter whined loudly as it sliced through the pipe. Kix and Sawbones’ voices were too low for him to make out any words, but their tone was urgent enough to make him think something had gone wrong.

“Let’s get them out of here,” Cody said. “If that’s all right with you, of course.”

“I go when he goes,” Rex said.

“For fuck’s sake,” Cody said, but he grabbed one end of the stretcher, and Rex was lifted and carried after Obi-Wan, up and out into the fading daylight.

* * *

Rex lost time to the bacta tank and didn’t get it back until he’d been fished out and consigned to a bed as Kix rattled off is injuries—broken cavicle, broken ribs, fractured femur, multiple contusions, concussion, decreased lung capacity—finishing it off with a brusque, “We had to regenerate eight percent of your lung tissue. You may notice some breathing issues until it’s integrated.”

“That mean I can leave?” Rex asked.

“I’m not sure where you got that idea, sir,” Kix said, and smiled as Rex settled back against the pillows in defeat.

The worse part of being stuck in medical was there was no avenues of escape when Cody sat at his bedside and said, “So you and Kenobi.”

“There is no me and Kenobi,” Rex said. “He made that clear.”

Cody tipped his head back and said, “I’m a good person. I don’t deserve this.”

“You’re not and you do.”

“You should be nice to me.”

“Why would I ever do that?” he asked, suspicious.

“Because,” Cody said with a truly terrifying grin, “I’m staging a jailbreak.”

Cody bullied him out of bed and into a hoverchair, and after an exciting interlude where they avoided the med staff and Kix in particular, Rex was parked in front of the bacta tank Obi-Wan was currently submerged in.

“This is why you’re not a good person,” Rex said even as he stared at where Obi-Wan’s new scar sat low on his abdomen; the skin was still pink and raw from the grafts. It felt intrusive.

“It works in your favor I’m not,” Cody said. “He needed two surgeries, and for the first one, even under anesthesia, they had to keep you in the room so he wouldn’t tear himself apart looking for you.”

“I’m assuming you have a point.”

“My point,” Cody said mildly, “is that even with his reasons he still cares for you.”

Rex thought of Obi-Wan’s hand in his, and said, “That doesn’t change anything.”

“No, it doesn’t.” Cody affectionately shook him by the back of his neck. “But I know you, and that’s always been more than enough.”

Rex snorted, and watched the rise and fall of Obi-Wan’s chest until an exasperated Kix arrived to tow him back to medical.

* * *

Nearly two weeks had passed before Rex stood in front of Obi-Wan’s quarters, uncomfortable in the dress grays of a bridge officer. Kix had released him, but he had yet to be cleared for full duty, and so he resigned himself to handling the paperwork that conveniently, and consistently, slipped Skywalker’s mind.

And when he wasn’t doing that, he kept thinking of Obi-Wan and his wet breathing and the clutch of his hand until even he was sick of himself.

Well, time to deal with this and get back to doing his damned job. He pressed the chime and waited.

“Enter,” Obi-Wan said. “Please tell me you have those data pads I requested.”

“Sorry, sir,” Rex said as the door shut behind him. “I’m under strict orders from Cody not to give you any more work.”

Obi-Wan’s head jerked up. He was propped up in bed with blankets piled over his lap and probably half the pillows onboard _The Negoiator_ tucked under his back. His tunics gaped open at the neck and his hair looked like it hadn’t been brushed in days, but he breathed sweet and easy.

“Rex,” Obi-Wan said. “Captain.”

“General.” He fell into parade rest, hands clasped behind his back.

“Well,” Obi-Wan said, “this is fairly ridiculous. We’re far past standing on ceremony. Have a seat.”

Rex dragged a chair over rather than sit on the bed. There were still lines he refused to cross. “They let you out of medical early,” he said for lack of anything else.

“I was apparently deemed fit enough for release.”

“And here I thought you had nearly driven Sawbones to smothering you with a pillow with your constant attempts to get out of bed,” Rex said.

The corner of Obi-Wan’s mouth twitched. “There may have extenuating circumstances, yes. And you? How are you?”

“I’m nearly fully recovered,” Rex said, which was mostly true. There was still lingering stiffness from his healed bones that would be worked out in short order. “Lung capacity is just slightly lower than it was, although Kix assures me it will return.”

“Yes, I heard you needed some tissue regeneration. You’re lucky in that respect. They had to completely regrow my left lung and part of my liver, although from what I gathered the latter had nothing to do with my injuries.”

“Sawbones has been looking for an excuse,” Rex agreed.

Obi-Wan smiled before wincing as he shifted. Rex eased a pillow to the small of Obi-Wan’s back.

“Thank you,” Obi-Wan said, hand pressed to where Rex knew the scar lay. “Not to be ungrateful for your visit, but was there something you needed? Do keep in mind that I’ve been forbidden to work on anything that would be considered unduly stressful.”

“That rules out anything to do with the war.”

“Yes,” Obi-Wan said dryly. “Cody was entirely too pleased with himself for that.”

“I’m sure you’ll find a way to knock him down a peg,” Rex offered.

Obi-Wan huffed a faint laugh. “Why are you here, Rex?”

“I wanted to apologize for what I said,” he said, and Obi-Wan’s eyebrows rose. “It was not my place, especially given the circumstances we found ourselves in.”

“I think,” Obi-Wan said, gaze trained unerringly on him, “an allowance can be made because of the circumstances.”

He shook his head. “That’s very kind of you, sir, but we both know that’s not how it works. And you were right. Our relationship is a purely professional one and nothing more.”

“Ah.” Obi-Wan turned the pad over in his hands. “I had hoped you had taken something else away from that conversation.”

What Rex should do was take his leave and let the whole damned business lie instead of continuously poking at it, but he never was that good at doing the smart thing. It was probably why he lasted longer as Skywalker’s executive officer than his predecessor.

Instead he said, “And what should I have taken away?”

“That I’d rather be with you than without,” Obi-Wan said, “for what it’s worth.”

He closed his eyes. “And you said I wasn’t making this easy.”

“I am sorry.”

“No, you’re not,” Rex said, fond despite himself. He stood. “And for what it’s worth, it’s the same for me.”

He was nearly at the door when Obi-Wan said, “Perhaps we can revisit the issue when the war is over, although that may not be for quite some time.”

He turned back. “I’ve been reliably informed that I’m more stubborn than Cody. I can wait.”

Obi-Wan abruptly threw the blankets aside and clambered to his feet. “To hell with it. We nearly died.”

And then before Rex could do more than blink, Obi-Wan grabbed him by the back of the neck and kissed him.

Rex may not have an extensive basis of comparison, but it was a damned good kiss, and he softened into it by degrees. Obi-Wan’s breath was stale and Rex felt like he couldn’t get enough air, and it lingered on far longer that it should, and Rex would give nearly anything to keep it going.

But it had to end, and when they parted his hands were in Obi-Wan’s hair and Obi-Wan was gripping him by the hips. They were standing so close.

“That,” Obi-Wan said as they eased back, letting space breathe open between them, “should hopefully tide us over.”

“Right,” Rex said, and then, as Obi-Wan said, to hell with it. He caught Obi-Wan’s hand and pressed one last kiss to his knuckles. “For when the war’s over.”

Obi-Wan flushed. “It would go faster if Cody would allow me more than two pads.”

“I’ll let him know,” Rex said, straightening to something just shy of attention. “I’ve taken up too much of your time.”

“I don’t believe that will ever be possible,” Obi-Wan said, but he mirrored Rex’s posture. “Captain.”

“General,” he said, and took his leave.

Back out in _The Negotiator’s_ halls, nothing had changed. The hyperdrive engine still thrummed under his feet and brothers going on shift hurried past him, and the war was still waiting to be won.

Rex rolled his shoulders back and went to work.

**Author's Note:**

> You know the drill. I'm over at [tumblr](https://dharmaavocado.tumblr.com/) if you want to drop on by.


End file.
